


Childhood

by FreckledSkittles



Series: ReiBert Week 2015 [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Childhood, Gen, M/M, Reibert Week, Reibert Week 2015, but he's technically adopted so it's all good, orphan!bertolt, really cute kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4486080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreckledSkittles/pseuds/FreckledSkittles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For ReiBert Week 2015. Prompt: childhood. </p>
<p>"How high do you want to go?" </p>
<p>"I wanna reach the stars. I wanna touch Pluto."</p>
<p>"Someday I'll take you there, alright? And we'll eat astronaut food and fly on Saturn's rings."</p>
<p>(Or the one where Bertolt and Reiner are probably too mature and boop each other's noses.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually really bad. I think I completely missed the point of this.

"Hey."

A prod into his back that startled him into a jump and only tightened the duvet draped over him. The sunlight peeked out from behind drawn curtains, and then from the slit of space he had created between reality and the cozy covers of his bed.

"Hey!"

This time, there was a rough shove, followed by tugs on his blanket. With a squeak, he clutched onto them and tried to pull it back over his head, but to no avail. They came off with a swooping motion and left him bare. He shivered at the sudden chill that he had failed to notice before, and when he tried to look for his sheets, they were pulled away too.

Bertolt had been living in the Braun household for a few months, almost six. When he had first been brought there, it was with a strong and underlying fear that everything would go wrong. He had never found a place that he belonged, not since he was put into foster care due to his parents' failures of noticing their son's needs. For five years, he wandered from home to home, never finding the right one and always failing to make a new home for himself. He didn't know how to do that. He didn't know anything but how to wander, and how to keep his voice to himself.

Coming to the Braun's was, even if he didn't want to admit it, the best choice for him. He hadn't been put into temporary homes; he was taken in. His parents had finally given him up and made him another parent's responsibility, a woman named Audrey who had only given birth to one of her five children. Audrey chose adoption and foster care because after her son was born, she grew sick and became unable to handle childbirth. And because she wanted a large family, she turned to child services to see what she could do to help. His new home wasn't exactly bad, per say. It was large and definitely expensive, and Bertolt didn't expect to live in it when he was older.

His adopted siblings were alright, despite their atom-like behavior of jumping from one place to the next at high speeds. Connie, the youngest, usually joined forces with Sasha, his pigtailed companion, in raiding the kitchen for snacks and delicious food. They were the rowdiest without a doubt, but they were overall sweet and funny enough to bring a laugh out of Bertolt when he least expected it. Jean was by far the rude one of the bunch; for the first few weeks, he had bothered Bertolt relentlessly. However, by the time the first month rolled by, it had disappeared and was replaced with an actually nice kid who would stubbornly let Bertolt have the comfiest spot on the couch or help him tie his shoes, even when he didn't need it.

And then there was Reiner, the only Braun of the kids. He was older by a year from Bertolt, and from the first day, he had made it his sole duty to crack the shell the newcomer had put himself inside of. Reiner was persistent and determined; in the months he had been there, he had been unable to shake off his attempts. When Bertolt accidentally laughed at a joke from Sasha or Connie, Reiner would frown and demand that he have the same in return. And when Bertolt thanked Jean for giving him the comfy seat and the two watched television together, commenting on it occasionally, Reiner would try and butt in. But when Reiner tried to do those things, Bertolt retreated back into his shell, kept himself hidden. It wasn't that he hated him, or disliked him; Reiner simply scared him. He was so confident, so brass, so loud. Bertolt was confused on how to react to him. It frightened him to a hiding spot he knew, where he couldn't be bothered by anyone, even the three other children. Reiner's attempts to gain his attention had failed entirely.

It might have been why he had proceeded to jump on the bed, a leg on either side of Bertolt's curled form, to get him up. But then again, it might have just been because of his personality.

“Reiner, stop jumping on the bed!” A voice called out from the other side of the room. Sasha, bedhead and all, tugged on his arm to get him off.

“No!” The jumping, despite Reiner’s protests, came to an end when the pulls brought him off the bed and falling on his rear with a cry. Bertolt sat up, scrambling for the blanket, before he tugged it back over his head and settled against the pillow once more. If he stayed still, perhaps they would assume he was asleep and leave him be.

“Go back to _bed_ , Reiner!” Jean shouted, what sounded like his footsteps stomping over to his side of the room.

“I want to talk to Bertolt!”

“You can talk to him later!”

“Stoooooop!”

“I want to be his friend!”

The yelling didn’t let up until Audrey came in, irritated yet calmly telling them to quiet down. “Bertolt is still sleeping; if you’re going to be loud, go downstairs.”

“Mommy, how come Bertolt won’t let me be his friend?” Reiner asked as his adopted siblings scampered out of their room. Connie must have had another nightmare last night and slept in Audrey’s room, or was sleeping through all of the screaming. “I tried to make him be my friend, but he doesn’t want to.”

“You can’t make someone be your friend,” his mother sighed. “You have to let it happen, and then you can work on it. He’s still adjusting to his home. Give it time, Reiner.”

For the rest of the day, Reiner seemed to avoid Bertolt’s path entirely. When they met at the table for meals, it was always on the opposite ends. When they watched television, Reiner sat on the far end of the couch. And when they went outside, he made sure to keep their three other siblings between them. Bertolt didn't understand it, but there was a piece of him that was thankful for him backing off.

Though it didn't last for just one day; for the rest of the week, Reiner didn't say anything to him. He didn't look towards him, and he didn't go near him. Bertolt could see he was being avoided and ignored, and suddenly, that feeling of relief at his disappearance was replaced with despair in the blink of an eye. He hadn't meant for that to happen; all he wanted was for Reiner to be calm and considerate and quiet, to not be like himself. But even at ten years old, he could see that that was wrong. Reiner as himself was the best kind of Reiner there was.

He approached his adopted brother a week later, on Friday after school; their babysitter was sitting on the deck reading while the five played in the backyard. Reiner was sitting on one of the swings, swaying slightly and kicking at the worn ground beneath his feet. Bertolt sat on the one beside it, quiet despite the creak of the swing as he adjusted himself in the seat. Neither said anything; he wasn't even sure if Reiner knew he had dropped by. It was strange, it was unnerving, and it almost made him sick.

"H-hi."

Reiner glanced up suddenly, eyes wide and hands tightening against the chains holding the swing up. His hazel eyes flashed with recognition and joy, but he still remained silent. Bertolt realized, with disappointment and irritation, that he had managed to say very little to him in the few months they had been living together.

"Hi," the blond greeted back, his tone ecstatic and practically jumping for interaction. "Your voice sounds nice."

"Thanks." Bertolt had never been one for social interactions; was he doing it right? "Do you want to be my friend?"

"Yes!" Nearly falling out of the swing, Reiner hopped off and stood in front of the seat. "I wanna be best friends!"

"…why?"

The question must have taken him by surprise, for he tilted his head to the side. "Because we both have big noses." He tapped the tip of his own, and then lightly tapped Bertolt's.

The boy held himself back, not wanting to scare Reiner away. He got better when people talked to him, but he didn't usually start it off. To help his adopted brother, Bertolt touched the tip of his nose and then did the same to Reiner. The blond looked ready to jump for joy and scream at the same time. Bertolt wasn't sure what he preferred.

Reiner sat back down on the swing, much happier than before and much more content than he had been. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's okay." He meant the words too; it truly was alright. And it also hadn't been fair that Reiner had been given the cold shoulder for so long. Bertolt had seen that he had no intention of hurting or scaring him because he wanted to. Reiner just wanted a friend. At school, even with the grade difference, Bertolt could see how many he had. He was a magnet to those around him, alike or not, and the way he interacted with them was astonishing. He knew names and faces and he genuinely enjoyed talking to others. And Bertolt understood now that that was who he was. "I'm sorry for being so mean."

Reiner looked up at him, connecting gold with emerald, and Bertolt decided then that his eyes were pretty. He had failed to notice them before, and he was upset that he had just now seen them. "You weren't being mean," he said with a confused tone. "You were being yourself. And that's not a bad thing." He paused, scuffed his feet in the dirt and stained his shoes some more. "Momma said that some people are shy and have a hard time talking. And it’s okay, because they are who they are, and we can’t get mad at that.”

Bertolt had forgotten why he had avoided Reiner for so long when he could have had someone, finally, to be with. He had been so afraid of a person for being so brass, so proud and so loud, and yet he wasn’t all that he made himself seem like. Reiner was those things, of course, or else he wouldn’t be who he was. But he was also kind and genuine, and he wanted to be friends. And there was something different about the way he acted at home and at school. With anyone else, they were good friends who had play dates and threw around baseballs and footballs, who rode their bikes to the beach and collected rocks to skip on the water. At home, they were stronger than that. They were people he saw each day, people he loved, people he could never get bored of. Reiner loved his family, adopted or not, because at the end of the day, they were all that he had. It must have been very boring, when it was just Audrey for company.

“Can I push you?” Reiner asked suddenly, a look of fear and hope on his face. Bertolt, at first, was confused, and convinced he was referring to a physical push, until he explained, “On the swing.”

"Oh.” The dark-haired boy nodded, shifting so that he was more comfortable on the swing. “Yes.”

Reiner, grinning wide and giggling to himself, hopped back on the ground and behind Bertolt. His presence didn’t scare the younger, like it might have. They would have to grow to gain trust, that was for certain. But there had to be a starting point for it, and today didn’t seem too bad. “How high do you want to go?”

Bertolt paused, a question he had not expected, and looked up at the sky. It was a clear afternoon, the sun starting its descent downwards to make room for the moon. Audrey would come home with pizza, and they would talk about their days and make plans for tomorrow. It was a home Bertolt had not been expecting to have, and he was grateful. "I wanna reach the stars. I wanna touch Pluto."

Reiner, grasping either side of the chains, leaned forward, resting his chin on Bertolt's head. "Someday, I'll take you there, alright? And we'll eat astronaut food and fly on Saturn's rings."

"…I like that!"

It didn't sound like a terrible idea at all.


End file.
